NASA

SLS Solid Rocket Booster Tested in Utah

SLS Solid Rocket Booster Tested in Utah

Press Release from NASA.Gov June 28, 2016 RELEASE 16-069 NASA’s Space Launch System Booster Passes Major Milestone on Journey to Mars A booster for the most powerful rocket in the world, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), successfully fired up Tuesday for its second qualification ground test at Orbital ATK’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah. This […]

Posted in: NASA, SLS / Orion
Global Topographic Map of Mercury

Global Topographic Map of Mercury

Just in time for yesterday’s transit of innermost planet Mercury across the face of the sun, NASA released the first global elevation model of the sun scorched world, courtesy of the MESSENGER spacecraft. While Mercury is hardly at the top of anyone’s list of habitable planets, it is at least worth recalling that among its […]

Posted in: NASA
With Shelby at the Helm, SLS/Orion Win Big Again, Science Suffers

With Shelby at the Helm, SLS/Orion Win Big Again, Science Suffers

[Author’s Note: Innerspace.net has been on limited release for the last week as I have taken time off to welcome a personal payload into the world, Nola Kate Money, born on 4/18/2016.  As the designated landing zone also happened to be in New Delhi, India, some concessions were simply inevitable.] Story: Although it might not […]

Posted in: NASA
Look Ma! No Mylar! : NASA’s E-Sail Promises Higher Speeds to Far Away Places

Look Ma! No Mylar! : NASA’s E-Sail Promises Higher Speeds to Far Away Places

A fascinating experiment is underway at the Marshall Space Flight Center to demonstrate the potential of a new form of solar sail which does away with the fabric entirely. Instead of attempting to deploy a troublesome sail made of mylar, the E-Sail uses instead a series of thin aluminum wires spun out from the slowly […]

35 Years Ago Today NASA Inaugurated the Shuttle Era

35 Years Ago Today NASA Inaugurated the Shuttle Era

The first Space Shuttle launch took place 35 years ago today. Ending the first great “gap” in American crewed spaceflight which began with the conclusion of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. The Space Transportation System, with all of its incredible highs and wrenching lows, inaugurated a new era in American spaceflight which is still […]

Posted in: NASA
Sweet Home Alabama: Dream Chaser Aims for Huntsville Landings

Sweet Home Alabama: Dream Chaser Aims for Huntsville Landings

The “Rocket City” may be taking a big step in seeing some of its storied history coming home, literally, in the form of a descending Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser space plane. Yesterday, officials in Huntsville, Al held an industry session to promote Dream Chaser landings in the city that helped launch America into the space […]

Paragon Wins NASA SBIR Award With Implications for Propellant Depots

Paragon Wins NASA SBIR Award With Implications for Propellant Depots

Press Release: Paragon Space Development Corporation® Wins NASA Phase II For Cryogenic Fluid Management Technology TUCSON, AZ (March 21, 2016) – Paragon Space Development Corporation® (Paragon) and partner Thin Red Line Aerospace (TRLA) received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from NASA to advance their Cryogenic Encapsulating Launch Shroud and Insulated Upper […]

ISS Set to Receive Orbital ATK and SpaceX Resupply Missions in Rapid Succession

ISS Set to Receive Orbital ATK and SpaceX Resupply Missions in Rapid Succession

The International Space Station will see quite a bit of traffic in the next few weeks. Later today, NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos will launch to the Station from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Liftoff of the Soyuz booster and spacecraft is set for 5:26 PM EDT. (3:26 […]

NASA Plan Will Have Cygnus Spaceship Go Down In Flames (Twice)

NASA Plan Will Have Cygnus Spaceship Go Down In Flames (Twice)

Talk about going down in flames. Sometimes it seems that NASA has an inappropriate fascination with destroying its own spacecraft. Cassini comes to mind, but there are quite a few other examples, including the four former SSME’s which will power each of the first few SLS launches. See Related:  Expending Reusable Engines: A Good Thing?  […]

Europa Lander, SLS Dominate NASA Budget Hearing

Europa Lander, SLS Dominate NASA Budget Hearing

The House appropriations sub-committee which funds NASA held a hearing yesterday regarding the Administration’s FY-2017 budget request. Background  The Administration request for FY 2017 is $18.262 billion. NASA says that the proposed budget is really $19.025 billion because it includes $763 million from other sources. The Congressional appropriation (what NASA actually received) for FY 2016 was […]

Posted in: Congress, NASA
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